Guatemala: How widespread is forced recruitment of under-age men into the Guatemalan army, are recruitment raids publicized in local communities prior to the arrival of the army and are young men picked up from high schools? Does this happen only in rural or less populated areas? 1985-1990
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 June 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GTM6053 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Guatemala: How widespread is forced recruitment of under-age men into the Guatemalan army, are recruitment raids publicized in local communities prior to the arrival of the army and are young men picked up from high schools? Does this happen only in rural or less populated areas? 1985-1990, 1 June 1990, GTM6053, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab603c.html [accessed 14 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
For reports on forced recruitment in Guatemala, please find attached a copy of two documents which describe the practice:
-Guatemala: Eternal Spring - Eternal Tyranny, (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1987), pp. 45-46;
-Closing the Space: Human Rights in Guatemala May 1987 - October 1988, (Washington, D.C./ New York: Americas Watch, November 1988), p. 16.
Although Eternal Spring reports 1984 and 1986 cases of rounding-up of young men for recruitment under different circumstances such as at soccer games or on their way to a local dance, references to under-age men being picked up from high schools or publicity of an upcoming recruitment raid could not be found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC.
In the attached Americas Watch report (late 1988), conscription is reported as being "carried out in most areas among the lower classes".
Americas Watch researchers, as communicated by telephone to the IRBDC on 20 June 1990, stated that Americas Watch has received recent reports of a "wave" of recruitment for the Guatemalan army having taken place a few months ago. Some cases of forced recruitment of minors have also been reported, although the forced recruitment of minors is reportedly not legal. The source added that forced recruitment is practised in the cities, big and small, as well as rural areas, although recruitment in rural areas is sometimes for the civil patrols and not for the regular army. Finally, the source commented that no reports of publicity of upcoming recruitment raids have been received or heard of, adding that the element of surprise is essential to the practice of forced recruitment, since the usual response of the population fit for recruitment is to flee as soon as a recruitment raid is known to be taking place.
